For restaurants
A restaurant POS system that can handle a dinner rush
Yes, a restaurant POS system can be free. Open checks, kitchen tickets, tips and online orders are the everyday basics on a free plan, and paid plans mostly add table maps, check splitting and coursing.
Counter service, a neighborhood spot with twelve tables, a bar that does food. Here's what you get, what you don't, and how to tell which side of the line you're on.
One night of service
Where the POS earns its keep
Forget the feature list for a second. A restaurant POS has four jobs, and if it does them without getting in the way, nobody on the floor thinks about it.
Seat and start a check
Open a tab for the table or the bar stool. Add rounds to it all night and nothing gets lost on a notepad.
Send it to the kitchen
Hit send and a ticket prints on the line. Drinks go to the bar printer, food goes to the kitchen.
Keep online orders in the mix
Pickup and delivery orders land in the same order list as the dining room, instead of on a separate tablet.
Close out with tips
Guests tip on the screen, a big party gets an automatic gratuity, and two people can split the payment.
Kitchen tickets
Paper tickets still run most kitchens. That's fine.
A kitchen printer by the line is cheap, loud enough to hear and doesn't care about grease. Send each station only what it needs and your cooks never read past the drink order to find the food.
- Route food and drinks to different printers
- Modifiers print right under the item, so "no onion" doesn't get missed
- Kitchen screens are an upgrade you can add later, not a requirement
Menus with lots of options stay quick to ring up. With nested modifiers, picking a side salad brings up just the dressing choices for that salad, up to three levels deep, and it carries over to Square Kiosk, the kitchen display, and DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats orders.
Online orders
Takeout without another tablet on the counter
If you've ever had three delivery tablets chirping at once, you know the pain. Put your own online ordering on the same menu as the dining room and you change a price or pull an item once, not four times.
- Your own ordering page for pickup and delivery
- Orders from your site and from delivery apps in one list
- Menu edits show up everywhere at once
On Square Free vs. paid
What you can run free, and where the line is
Plenty for a counter or a small dining room Free plan
- Open checks and the Orders tabStart a tab, add rounds to it, and see every open order in one list. Tickets get numbered automatically.
- Kitchen ticketsOrders print in the kitchen on any plan. Printer profiles send drinks to the bar printer and food to the line.
- Tips on the screenSuggested tip amounts you choose, a custom tip button, and an automatic gratuity you can add to a large party's check.
- Split paymentsOne check, paid across two cards, or part card and part cash.
- Online orderingCommission-free online ordering for pickup and delivery, Order with Google, and preorders for later in the day.
- One menu everywhereEdit an item once and it updates in the app and online. Orders from delivery apps can land in the same place.
- Offline paymentsKeep taking cards on supported hardware when the internet drops.
Full service, with all the trimmings
Here's the honest part. If you run a sit-down dining room with servers, a few of the tools you'd expect are on paid plans.
- Square PlusFloor plans and table managementBuild a map of your room and track tables by status.
- Square PlusSplit checks by seat or item, reopen checks, bar tabs held on a cardSplitting one check into several is different from splitting a payment, and it's a Plus feature.
- Square PlusTableside orderingServers ring orders at the table.
- Square Plus86 an item everywhere at onceMark something sold out across the POS and online in one tap.
- Square PlusTimecards, scheduling and tip pooling
- Square PremiumCoursing and seat numbersFire apps first and hold mains, and track who ordered what by seat.
- Paid add-onKitchen display screensSquare's KDS app, if you'd rather go screen than paper. Not available on Free.
Plan prices and card rates change, so we keep them in one place instead of on every page. See current pricing or Square rates and hardware.
Be honest with yourself
Counter service or full service?
This is the question that decides whether free is enough.
Free usually covers it
You take the order at the counter
Burger joints, taquerias, pizza by the slice, bakeries with a few tables, bars that run tabs. Guests order, pay, and you call a number or run the food. Open checks and kitchen tickets do the heavy lifting.
Plan on upgrading
Servers own sections and tables
If your servers need a table map, split checks by seat and fire courses, you'll want a paid plan. Plenty of places start free anyway, learn the system, and move up when it's worth it.
Getting started
Ready for service in a weekend
- 1
Sign up
Free account, your bank details for payouts, done.
- 2
Build the menu
Items, then modifiers like temps and sides, then categories.
- 3
Hook up the kitchen
Connect a kitchen printer and choose what prints where.
- 4
Run a fake rush
Ring ten orders with your staff before doors open.
Questions
Restaurant owners ask us
Will a free POS keep up on a busy Friday night?
Usually, yes. Speed comes down to the setup more than the plan: a solid internet connection, the kitchen printer where the line can actually see it, and a menu built with modifiers instead of twelve versions of the same burger. Get those right and the software won't be the bottleneck.
What hardware does a restaurant actually need?
Something to ring orders and take cards (a tablet with a reader, or a countertop terminal) and a kitchen printer. Handhelds for servers and a kitchen screen are nice to have, not day one must haves. Our POS hardware guide covers what to buy first.
How much do restaurant POS systems cost?
Less than most owners expect. On a free plan there's no monthly software fee, so you're paying card processing on each sale plus whatever hardware you buy, like that kitchen printer. Paid restaurant plans add a monthly fee in exchange for table maps, check splitting and coursing. Current numbers are on our pricing page.
Can a full-service restaurant run on Square Free?
It can, with limits. Open checks, kitchen tickets, tips and online ordering are all on Free. The table map, check splitting and tableside ordering need Square Plus, and coursing is on Premium. Plenty of places start on Free and move up once the dining room gets busy.
Do I need a kitchen display screen?
No. Tickets print on a kitchen printer on every plan, Free included. Square's KDS app is a paid add-on on Plus and Premium if you'd rather use screens. See current pricing for what it costs today.
Still deciding? See which POS hardware fits your business and whether a free POS is enough, or browse all our free POS guides. Current rates are on our pricing page, and every reader and terminal is on the Square rates and hardware page. More answers on the FAQ page, or call (888) 243-3831.
Get the dining room running without a monthly software bill.
Square Free has no monthly software fee and no long-term contract. You pay a processing fee when a customer pays by card, and nothing on cash. Current numbers are on our pricing page.
No monthly fee on the free plan. No long-term contract. Cancel anytime. See current pricing.
Free POS System is operated by POSUSA, an authorized Square reseller. POSUSA may earn compensation when you sign up through our link. It doesn't cost you a cent more. Read our disclosure.